Why Vacations Don’t Seem to Work – And How to Plan Your Perfect Wellness Getaway

It’s the end of the year. We’re overworked, burned out, and sleep deprived. We all need a break, a vacation, some rest, and relaxation. Taking a break is a good thing. Some studies have shown that increased vacation time can actually boost workplace productivity.

We thought we can finally escape from the stress of work, with our week long or two vacation we have pined for all year long. We just want to check in and check out of a Caribbean cruise or maybe travel around Europe. But often, you find yourself even more tired when it’s time to pack or when you go back home – something is off.

If this scenario is familiar, then it’s not another vacation you need. The location does not matter, nor is the timing of the year. But what you need is a wellness getaway – one that will make you happy.

A Wellness Getaway is Meaningful

Find meaning – your day off should be meaningful, and not feel like just a method to escape from work. It’s a much simpler solution, one that requires less money and time out of your schedule, and because of that, is realistically achievable for everyone.

A wellness getaway is a scheduled day off work where you do things only for your well-being. This combines relaxation and pampering with moments of mindfulness and relaxation.

It is essential, in order to be in control, in order to be conscious, we’d have to remove ourselves from the pinball machine of life every now. It helps gain new insights to see things from a distance, because sometimes we are too overwhelmed in life, we lose meaning of the little things.

So come up for air, feel the sun on your face and gain some new perspective. Here’re some of the tips to plan and execute the ultimate wellness day. A new way of decompressing is just five minutes away.

Choose Your Day

First, let’s start with deciding on a date. So, take a look at your schedule. No, really look at it now and decide on the days in the next couple of weeks where there is nothing important booked. No meetings, no visiting relatives – be strict about what is really important. Also, decide on one of the weekdays.

Yes, weekdays. This is because it will remove your from the ordinary environment your body clock has been used to. You need to disrupt your routine and do something new. What’s more, you need to break up a week, so it will feel like three weekends with just a couple of days of work in between. For that reason, we recommend Wednesdays or Thursdays.

This is one of the biggest and best things to make the most of your wellness day – it should feel like something more special and different.

Research to Inspire Yourself

Remember, the purpose of these retreats are for healing. So don’t go including an errand or task that you have postponed all this time into the schedule – you aren’t doing that. If you thought you could make it up on the day, you are not doing that either.

You need to make the most of your time to research, plan, and fill in activities that will nourish your mind, body, and soul. A plan to truly achieve your well-being. That’s why we recommend researching events and series in your area. Make bookings for plans in the mid-morning, afternoon, and early evening.

Choose the physical route

As for what activities to pursue, you can choose to make it physical. That is you can decide on physical activities like skydiving, mountain hiking, or even water-rafting. Then only, do you decide on where you’d like to go.

But making it physical doesn’t mean sweaty, tiring activities. You can make it a bodily experience and try yoga or a full body massage. That’s entirely up to you.

Make it mental

See a play, read a book, or go to an art gallery to see an exhibition, or see a live band – expand your mind with something that is completely unrelated to your work or life.

Make it indulgent

Your wellness getaway should help feed your soul and you need to make the day feel special, so indulge in something. Rent a convertible and drive along the coast. Go to a fancy restaurant and order off-menu. Tick an item off your bucket list.

Remember, research can broaden the possibilities and help you discover things you never knew you could get excited about.

Set Expectations

Be very clear with everyone – not just work, but friends and family too – that this is a your personal retreat for healing. There will be no communication, no demands made on your time. There will be no cancellation, rescheduling or squeezing in this little thing. Protect your time and be ferocious in doing so.

Remember, research can broaden the possibilities and help you discover things you never knew you could get excited about.

Also, a tip on this – you can set an out of office on your email, and add a line to your email signature ahead of time that you’ll be away on that day. By the same vein, record a voice message and tell your friends and family that you’ll be away during those days.

Don’t be afraid to ask for people’s support in response to your wellness day. Attitudes towards mental health and are shifting, rightly so, and by being open about what you’re doing, you may inspire others to do the same.

Only recently, a CEO came out in full support of his employee taking a wellness day, making headlines in the process.

A Good Night’s Sleep

A great wellness day starts the day before. There’s no use having a day full of rewarding and nourishing moments if it’s clouded by working until midnight on last minute deadlines the day before.

So, it important to arrange your work at the days you are off as well. Finish those task that are important, so you won’t be bringing extra baggages and aggregate your work to your colleagues before you leave.

Leave work on time and get to bed by 9.00p.m. Sign out of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Email services on your phone, or just shut it off entirely. You can take a quick shower, or have a lovely hot bath, have a glass of vino and listen to relaxing music in prep for your wellness vacation the next day.

When you’re in bed, do a mindful meditation – clear your thoughts as you enter into deep sleep. This is all about entering a state of preparedness and focus for the day ahead, so you can really make the most of it.

Because you went to bed early, you can really maximize the time you have for your wellness vacation. Get up as the sun rise, before the hustle and bustle of rush hour commuters can disrupt your sense of peace and leave your phone at home.

Live out what you have planned, be it just visiting a new café – smile and meet new friends. Commit to making the best of each and every moment. Make time to breathe and to appreciate the flavors and texture of your breakfast – without the usual morning rush. Set your brain to slow mode.

By doing this, you eliminate many unnecessary distractions and allow your brain to concentrate on the simple things it misses in everyday life. You remove the sense of overload that is customary to modern living.

This will enable you to make the most of each of your planned experiences, with time in between to reflect on your relaxation, and how a calm mind can open up to new things.

These wellness retreats, in the end can have profound effects on your overall stress level, and help make life more meaningful. It breaks the cycle of simply responding instinctively under stress, and instead place the focus on consciously creating meaningful moments.